First full trailer for PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK recently dropped and... It actually looks good for a CGI anime show! That or I'll take anything after Pacific Rim: Uprising but that's a totally different story.
The appearance of tangible human antagonist gives me pause for concern: like most anime series, it will begin with a fantastical otherworldly threat that will disappear several episodes in while a 'normal human' (cheaper to animate) one takes over as the main focus.
However, it would be cool to see equal amounts of human and non-human antagonists which this trailer also hints at with the smaller dog-like kaiju, a rogue hybrid Kaiju Yeager, and a strange mystery child.
With that factual gag now out of the way, I will admit that one of the better Facebook pages that I follow is Gormaru Island, a giant monster-based news-stream overseen by the always diligent Gormaru Omega (real-name is currently unknown but Facebook promised me that I can get it for a bargain price so stay tune).
Unless Gormaru Omega requests otherwise (or threaten to sell my search history that he can buy off from Facebook's info dealers), I'll be sharing the more intriguing news-bites from his fantastic page on my blog, mainly for archiving purposes, starting off with the first official crossover between Godzilla and Pacific Rim!
Don't get TOO excited... It's just an official visual collaboration in movie poster form.
Godzilla: Look at all these nifty action figures I just bought!
FROM GORMARU ISLAND, originally posted on 4/11/2018, 1:53 AM:
"GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle" and "Pacific Rim Uprising" Storm An Official Visual Collaboration Together
The collaboration was produced in commemoration of the continuous theatrical films released from both series, which for Godzilla is the second anime film "Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle". And for Pacific Rim is the second film installment, "Pacific Rim Uprising".
The visual collaboration was illustrated by Hidetaka Tenjin. A professional talent classified as a sci-fi illustrator and freelancer artist. He has also worked in various anime productions as a mechanical, texture, and special effects artist. Involved in properties such as "MACROSS", "Gundam Evolve", "Hellsing Ultimate", and more! As well as having done videogame box-art illustration work for franchise games such as Mobile Suit Gundam and MACROSS.
From the visual, GODZILLA Earth from the Godzilla Anime Trilogy, and the new generation of Jaegers from Pacific Rim Uprising, cross properties with each other. In what will be one of the most awesome and fitting crossovers to emerge from the kaiju genre.
One of the directors of the Anime GODZILLA series, Kobun Shizuno, went on to say that such a collaboration was something that he'd like to see on screen someday.
(((If it's an anime film that we're talking, then we'd love to see that too!)))
"Pacific Rim Uprising" will hit Japan's market on April 13, 2018. The second Godzilla anime film, "GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle", will be released in Japan on May 18, 2018.
Despite several official news announcements made across 2014, it looks as if the "Gamera Revival Project" (its official placeholder title), which might have been a new movie planned for 2015, has been canceled. And quietly swept under the proverbial rug. Now giant monster movies are announced and ultimately cancelled all the time (looking at you two, Hollywood and Kickstarter). But with 2015 being the 50th Anniversary of Gamera, this is a very discouraging turn for fans of the fire-breathing super-turtle.
Today's subject, as seen in his successful 1995 film revival "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe"
There's still some hope that we'll be getting SOMETHING significant later this year, to commemorating Gamera's original 1965 debut. Outside some limited Japanese toy releases, and simple lip-service from 'niche-nerd' news sites. And I also suffer from extremely terrible, awful, miserably BAD timing, which has been a major factor in why I don't update my blog that often to begin with. And knowing my luck, the greatest final trailer for the completed "Gamera Revival Project" film, will premier an hour from whenever your reading this. But since this is Gamera we're talking about, for once my bad timing would be a good thing. Some of my fellow fans have noted that there's still plenty of time left for a new Gamera film to begin shooting, before year's end. But unless Kadokawa Pictureshas one Hell of a secret production plan in the works, this is cutting it way too damn close!
Something all turtles are known for; flying through the outer space without oxygen
After giving it some thought, I've come to realize that I actually like Gamera a little bit more than the original Kaiju King who inspired him, Godzilla. Blasphemous, I know (nor do I really care), but the world needs more positive heroes, fictional and otherwise...Even if Gamera did start out as a berserk destroyer, in his very first film outing. And the very idea of a gigantic, fire-breathing turtle monster from ancient Atlantis, who can pull into his armored shell, and become a flying saucer of blue flames and physics-deifying awesomeness, is just too insane for me NOT to love! There are many fellow Gamera fans who feel the exact same way. And have taken their own paths in celebrating Gamera's 50th birthday, through endeavors like web-podcasts andfan created artwork.
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Over the course of 2015, I'll be doing several Gamera-themed articles, as well as showcasing related projects from people outside myself. Beginning with this melancholy, but ultimately sweet nature comic strip, entitled "Cheer Up Gamera". And was written and drawn by fellow artist, Kaiju fan, and overall nice person, WinterGaia. It captures both the negative and positive aspects of the Gamera's now overlooked legacy. In an anime-inspired, anthropomorphic, somewhat schmaltzy, kind of way.
And the love and support of friends is always welcomed, when keeping one's spirits up. And that last sentence was diffidently NOT meant as a simple joke.
So this post is based around the lesser known 1987 Japanese fantasy film"Princess from the Moon" ("Taketori Monogatari"). Produced by both Toho Co. Ltd and Fuji Television, "Princess of the Moon" was a prestige picture, based on the famous Japanese folktale "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter", also known as "Princess Kaguya". I'd go into further detail, especially the original story's proto-science fiction elements. But I'm not THAT good of a nonsense scholar, so I don't want to start spewing inaccuracies from the proverbial hinder, if you will. And besides, Wikipedia is NOT as useless as the so-called 'normal masses' will tell you otherwise, so here's their informative article on said folktale. And instead, I'm going to focus on the 1987 adaptation's lone Kaiju named The Sea Dragon (or simply Dragon).
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Contrary to popular belief, mythology never remains constant, between all the various retellings and revisions done to them. What Disney Animation did to the many Grimm Brothers fairy tales, and Ray Harryhausen nixing the sea monster Cetus, for an original character with the unoriginal name of The Kraken, are both examples of this. Well, "Princess of the Moon" decided to put a giant monster into its own retelling, along with a newer sub-plot to get it there. Basically, the half-human / half-lunar alien Kaya (Princess Kaguya herself), attracts the attention of several royal, and high ranking suitors. And Kaguya sends all of them on virtually impossible tasks, in order to sway their affections well away from her. One such task sends the only real love interest of the lot, to sail to the ends of the Earth. And he, along with his crew, have a disastrous oceanic run in with The Sea Dragon, who promptly sinks the 'good' suitor's ship, with all hands on board. I'd gleefully say 'Great job on that mess, Princess Kaguya!' But seeing how the somewhat aloof alien-human princess does indeed mourn this particular tragedy, by loosing her one decent would-be husband, that would just be mean spirited. "Princess from the Moon" is one of those obscure Japanese fantasy films that the more mainstream Kaiju fans here in America MIGHT have heard of in passing (more on that later), but never really followed up on it. Now there is a rather unfortunate bias these fans have towards all other forms of Japanese science fiction and fantasy. Mainly because Godzilla himself ins't in any of these non-Godzilla projects. And as such, they will openly dismiss and ignore even the exciting entries into the genre. Like last year's "Pacific Rim", and the better series within the Ultraman franchise. But equally as problematic, is that most of these overlooked Tokusatsu productions are...well...just not that good, when finally seen. Or all that interesting, even by their own individual merits. Now don't get me wrong, for "Princess of the Moon" is NOT at all a bad film! It is a very well done, straight faced production, filled with a strong cast of equally prestige Japanese actors. Including world famous veteran Toshiro Mifune, as Taketori-no-Miyatsuko; the woodcutter-turned-wealthy adoptive father of Kaguya. But like most big studio prestige films (prestige is a fun word to use), it's mostly pomp with very little circumstance. And as such, kind of monotonous to get through, viewing wise. The film was directed by the acclaimed director Kon Ichikawa, whose work has often been noted by having 'a certain darkness and bleakness, punctuated with sparks of humanity'. However, "Princess of the Moon" is the only film of his I've seen, so I can't tell you for sure if his signature style also includes the aforementioned monotony. Though with all that said, I'd really like to see his feature length documentary "Tokyo Olympiad" (1965) sometime soon. Which finally brings us to freaking The Sea Dragon himself; he's barely in the blasted movie! And no, I'm not being a bitter Kaiju fan here, but the monster's presence is so short, and virtually as pointless, that I honestly believe the movie would have benefited by NOT including the creature to begin with. And instead have Princess Kaguya's true love, be taken out by a regular sea storm. Just like the contractually obligated dead parents from Disney's "Frozen" (2013). And what little screen time The Sea Dragon does have, we never really get a good look at the monster. Mainly the stiff puppet's back, being pulled through the water, of a smoke-covered model set. With said, the only good images of The Sea Dragon have been from the few toys and promotional photos made. And so minor are these, that I was forced to make the following composite images through online theft (original web sources are self explanatory).
So how come A LOT of American Kaiju fans seem to be more aware of the minor creature, over the bigger film it originates from?
For a long while now (and still happening, apparently), a lot of people assumed that The Sea Dragon was a recovered, or refurbished monster prop from the failed Toho and Hammer Films co-production "Nessie" (1976-1979). This of course have long since been disproved, as The Sea Dragon and The Loch Ness Monster from that unproduced effort, are two completely different, unrelated monsters. Both fictionally and actually. But it's always worth mentioning, and to clarify the situation further, here's some really informative articles on the uncompleted making of "Nessie". Cryptomundo's Article, by Mark Jaramillo. A secondary article by Mark Jaramillo.
With the highly anticipated "Pacific Rim" coming in just over a month's
time, I'll be doing articles like these, for both major and minor updates alike.
And also, just to share my obviously bias opinions on the upcoming release - I
am a giant monster fan after all!
Starting with today's recently released featurette, which explains the how
the film's 'neuro-bridge', or The Drift works. Hopefully there will be more
such shorts in the days to come, including ones focusing on the Kaiju
antagonists themselves.
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Now I should mention my disappointment and related fears around the general
public's rather flippant reactions towards this film. Along with Geek culture
being more interested in the relatively minor casting of voice actress Ellen
McLain (Glados from "Portal 2"), and the cheap accusations of
this film being "Transformers 4".
Meanwhile, film critic and blogger (and fellow Kaiju fan) MovieBob own sentiments on "Pacific Rim" heavily mirrors my own, as seen in his own shout out towards the third trailer (also feature below).
Here's what MovieBob had to say on the matter, edited slightly for potty mouth tidbits: I really, really hope that this (third trailer) marks the start of
a much bigger push for this movie. Fairly or not, I feel like so much is riding
on "Pacific Rim." An original (read: not a sequel, remake, reboot, adaptation,
etc) big-budget genre movie? Guillermo Del Toro finally on the cusp of the
blockbuster clout he should've had a decade ago? Giant monsters and robots up
onscreen with no "apology" for their own existence or attempt to make them
palatable to audiences that might turn their noses up otherwise?
If something like this doesn't "succeed," it validates all the worst
chicken**** instincts of the current studio-system. "Joe Popcorn" (or whatever
the current euphemism is) probably doesn't deserve this movie... but I hope "he"
shows up anyway. There's more riding on this than just this.
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I personally doubt "Pacific Rim" will be one of the big
bombs of the Summer 2013, though the possibility of it being a box office
disappointment is still there, as mainstream American audiences really do turn
their noises up at giant monster movies. The success of Michael Bay's "Transformers" films probably have to do more with everything
surrounding the title robots, except for the title robots themselves. This being a
situation not too dissimilar to "One Million Years B.C.",
where one busty, red-headed cave girl was the box office draw, and not the (equally)
fantastic dinosaur effects work.
Peter Jackson's "King Kong" remake
from 2005 did well, but not well enough to really give the giant monster genre a
shot in the proverbial arm. And the success behind "Cloverfield" had more to do with its
'Mystery Box' marketing, over audiences even knowing, let alone wanting to see
the movie for what it actually was about. For more on this nonsense, I refer you
all back to MovieBob's video on the matter.
On the extremely bright side however; no matter how "Pacific Rim" performs, we can still rest assure that around
this same time next year, Legendary Pictures has another Kaiju film in store for
all of us. Isn't that right, Mister British Director Man?
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Than of course, there's the Japanese factor to consider.
Contrary to popular belief, Japan hasn't been that keen on giant monster
movies for several years now, despite being the country that was once the most
prolific in this sub-genre. And often for reasons very similar to American
attitudes towards Kaiju films, as being 'old hat', 'outlandish', or met with just plain
indifference.
And again, just like America, when these films do succeed, it's
often for reasons outside the Kaiju themselves, like paring up some of the
Millennium-era Godzilla films with more popular animated fair. Or the presence
of some beloved actor or in-the-moment guest stars who simply happen to be in
said monster movies.
With that said, I'd be interested in Japan's reaction towards "Pacific Rim", even if I have the sneaking suspicion that the
hype around the film will be centered firmly upon child actress Mana Ashida,
who's quite big there right now.
"What's this? Famed child star Mana Ashida, in an American attempt
at weird Kaiju films? How can this be!?!?" is probably how most of the
Japanese publicity might play out.
Regardless, director Guillermo del Toro hasn't forgotten the county that
directly inspired his upcoming opus, and had this special trailer made for that
particular distribution.
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Also worth mentioning (unfortunately), is that those infamous producers
over at The Asylum are doing their thing again, with the
'mock-buster' "Atlantic Rim". In all
fairness, this actually looks better than most of The Asylum's output. And the
one (I repeat, one) giant monster in this does looks pretty neat, like a slender
dragon-dinosaur-style hybrid.
But having seen my fair share of modern B-movies and Syfy Originals, I'm
expecting we don't get any good fight sequences until the last 20-or-8 minutes,
and the action and adventure will take a backseat to overused horror
elements.
Oh and is that a token black man among the robot piloting trio? Surely
nothing BAD will happen to him before film's end (sarcasms)!
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I know I'm coming off quite negative here, but I really am excited for "Pacific Rim". And will go see it either
at a midnight screening, or first thing the following morning. And my comments
here are only being realistic and level headed, at best. But please share all your opinions and speculation in the comments below.
Out blabber mouth THIS blabber mouth!
